29.03.2026 Trump and my sky-blue dream
Published on 29.03.2026 in Tiit Lepik’s mailing list (in Estonian). The original letter in Smaily
Yesterday Trump made me think again. Glancing at the ERR news headlines, I noticed his statement on NATO. Because of that I even watched Aktuaalne Kaamera (the evening TV news).
https://www.err.ee/1609980507/trump-viitas-nato-uhiskaitse-pohimottest-taganemisele
According to Wikipedia, Trump was born in 1946. My late father was only 3 years older. At 54 I already feel like an old stump who does not fit well into the modern world.
Listening to the American president’s speech, a memory from my youth came back to me. I was then a young, foolish businessman fresh from Soviet times. I kept a small one-room office on Väike-Ameerika Street. Romantic feelings were starting to develop between me and a young female colleague. She often sorted out her relationships with her former suitors in the corridor. Those conversations were emotional and could be heard all over the building. I was not much better myself. Some phone call drove me out of my mind and in front of everyone I smashed a wooden coat rack in the corner to pieces. Our relationship never went anywhere. A longing for romance was burning in me, but at the same time memories of my childhood home kept running through my mind and broke me.
Growing up in Lääne-Viru County, Finnish television was a constant companion. A sky-blue dream was born in the young boy — how wonderful it would be if Estonia also belonged to the Western world. If only one could live in freedom for even a year. In the everyday Estonia of the time, Western people seemed good, nice and happy. To a nervously ill Estonia the West looked like paradise.
The nineties were rather chaotic and do not count. For twenty years we have been able to live in paradise in Maarjamaa (Estonia). As a child I could not even dream of such a long time.
I thought about people I know who are around eighty. With age they tend to become easily offended. They no longer have the strength to go into details, and the ability to generalise tends to weaken. I think that with Trump it is petty to look for any plans or goals. I too have tried to understand his attitude to the economy. A person who has lived such a long life should have the chance to enjoy his retirement.
How Trump can lead one of the most powerful countries in the world is another question. That is more a topic for political scientists.
